listener 3983: reappearance by Poat

[midazolam]

Here is this weeks listener

[Rapparee]

Thanks for the link, Midazolam. No doubt this will be much tougher than the last one!

[cluelessJoe]

thanks midazolam - beat cruciverbalist to it this week then!

have a good weekend

[mad max]

many thanks for link

[cruciverbali]

Yes, I was late back from Moscow................. only joking, I've been busy packing for a camping trip, but shall take this one with me, thank you midazolam. Have a Great Bank Holiday everyone !

[midazolam]

what makes a good listener? surely not one where the author, the title, the line and the second author are obtained only after 8 answers are got.

Half the grid now completed and I can even see where the second author lies but I still don't know how the across answers fit in with the down answers. The line doesn't give away much

uuummmmm....not overall impressed that a theme can be got so early on, will keep plodding on however

[Scorpius]

In my case it was after only four answers, but I can't say I'm finding it that easy, even knowing how the downs are entered, in fact it's proving rather difficult.

[Mr Crossy]

I too have the work, author and line, and lots of answers. But not the second author, and I'm having trouble resolving clashes. Good fun so far, all the same!

[Scorpius]

It's becoming a tad easier now I've sussed what happens to the across entries (well, I think I have).

[cluelessJoe]

Had all the components after a couple of answers and a couple of lucky guesses, and I think I'd have really struggled without having all of that in place up front. The method of handling acrosses didn't hit me until I was walking the dogs this morning, and a good couple of miles away from the paper. Sometimes a bit of breathing space helps!
Good fun thereafter completing it
Cruciverbalist - I hope you are not camping in the southern half of the country. Weather's vile - and you'll need the tent pegged down very securely.
Off to cheer on Leeds now.

[Mr Crossy]

I have everything now except 15. Does "terriers chase" mean that the answer starts with a well-known two-letter abbreviation? Or does it mean that it ends with that abbreviation? Either way, I have the middle four of the six letters, but I can't find a likely definition!

[Scorpius]

I think I've seen ' chases' to indicate the letters going before or after. I think logic suggests that since the opening letters of a word are in front or at the front, anything chasing them must be placed after. There's an identical example in 31 using 'pursues'.

[Mr Crossy]

Thanks, Scorpius. Still the only matching word I can find means something like gum resin (from memory), which doesn't seem to fit the clue at all :(

[u10]

Mr Crossy. If you look back at 14......., you'll see that the answer to 15....... is another tree. It's in Chambers.

[Rapparee]

Thanks u10. This clue bothered me too for a while. I should have taken more notice of the ellipses, I guess...!
This wraps it up for me, now.

[spiderFreak]

Phew! I found that hard going, and would never have got the 2nd author without the Wikipedia article.
On another matter, I wondered what you good people thought of the invite to the dinner on 20th Sept to mark the 4000th crossword. It would be interesting to put some faces to our weekly torturers!

[Seth Mould]

I had to get help from the (unofficial) Listener Help Club on this one.

Very tough - I think the preamble should have given more away about certain treatments.

[midazolam]

as i said earlier - it took 8 entries to get the theme. Now I have 8 entries left to get and it is pulling my hair out (perhaps this is what makes a good listener). I have had to cold solve the majority of the grid.

My grid is a mess - full of clashes that don't make any sense whatsoever. can anyone give me a nudge in the right direction with the across treatments either privately or publicly.

[Seth Mould]

Compare symmetric Across answers.

[bobbycollins]

Thanks, Seth

I was completely up a (gum) tree. That is vicious.

Should be downhill now, but another dropped.

Numbers to come....oh,well

[himsuperstar]

desperate need of help here please - havent seen one as hard as this for a long time
i would be grateful for some subtle hints, and in particular what is meant by TICKING in 29ac (i have never come across this before)
thanks